In Celtic Ireland of 1155, vestiges of Brehon laws and rituals, still held sway despite the general embracing of Christianity.

The amorous flight of Dermot Mac Murrough King of Leinster with Dervorgilla, wife of his enemy, Tiernan O'Rourke, King of Breffni is depicted in this panel. Brehon Law, liberal but precise, dictated that Dermot, for this impudence, would pay a fine of 100 ounces of gold to the injured husband. The fact that Dermot failed to comply, possibly changed the course of Irish history.

The pair are seen galloping from the O'Rourke Castle in Roscommon to Dermot's stone fortress in Ferns
in Wexford.

Dervorgilla's dowry, cattle and household chattels accompanied them. Irish wives, were entitled to remove their dowry should they decide to take leave of their husbands. In pursuit is the elderly Tiernan O'Rouke in a vain attempt to apprehend the pair, who are met at Ferns by Donal Kavanagh (Caomanac), Dermot's eldest son. In the foreground is a ghost from the future, of Dermot's daughter, the yet unborn Aoife, who, because of this event would find herself at fifteen the wife of one of the mighty Norman
de Clares.

Although this event took place 14 years before the arrival of the Normans in 1169, the seeds were sown. Dermot's high handed ambition, territorial and otherwise, were losing him friends everywhere. The lower border shows the O'Briens of Duffry scattering as Dermot burns Ferns and flees in search of help.

The upper borders indicate the horrific realities of life for the princely young of the time. Rory O'Connor High King of Ireland, held three of Dermot's legitimate heirs as hostages to ensure the good behaviour of the Leinster King. When this was not forthcoming, the three youths were decapitated, a common practice throughout Europe at the time. Also on the upper border another young prince, Dermot himself, aged 16, being installed as King of Leinster, in a Brehon ritual.